1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to sports equipment. In particular, this invention relates to a system for adjusting basketball goals.
2. Description of the Related Art
Almost as soon as James Naismith invented basketball inventors have attempted to provide an affordable, easy to operate, easy to construct system which could adjust the height of a basketball goal. No device truly accomplished this goal until the present invention.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,801,142 to Friesen discloses an adjustable basketball goal with a lift cable and winch for raising and lowering a basketball goal. This device uses several parallel arms which pivot to adjust the height of the basketball goal. The '142 patent differs from the present invention in that the present invention adjusts using a sleeve riding on a post rather than two parallel arms to adjust the height of the attached basketball goal.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,951,944 to Morgan discloses an automatically adjustable basketball goal having an actuator, sleeve pipe, and a mount pipe. This invention adjusts the height of the basketball goal by telescoping the sleeve pipe along the mount pipe using the actuator. The '944 patent can be differentiated from the present invention in that the present invention uses a cable and pulley system to adjust the height of the basketball goal, and the actuator (winch) of the present invention is not mounted to an actuator pole as is the '944 invention.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,102,128 to Geise discloses a portable basketball goal with a mast, support arm and frame assembly, all of which may be raised and lowered. The manner in which the support arm is raised along the mast can be differentiated from the present invention in that the lifting cable used in the '128 invention is attached to the basketball goal support arm; the support arm is not attached to the mast in a sliding sleeve arrangement. Furthermore, the '128 invention is not described as being capable of motorized operation.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,547,185 discloses an adjustable basketball pole and goal having a pole with a plurality of rails along which a collar is pulled by a crank, line and pulley system. The '185 invention differs from the present invention in that the present invention does not require the use of rails to insure stable use and operation of the invention.
None of the above inventions and patents, taken either singularly or in combination, is seen to describe the instant invention as claimed. Thus an adjustable basketball goal system solving the aforementioned problems is desired.